A bipartisan coalition of former national security officials, military leaders and religious figures today called for President Bush to issue an executive order banning torture. The group includes members of eight presidential administrations, including both Bush administrations, and leaders from the Baptist, Catholic and Evangelical faiths.

"Though we come from a variety of backgrounds and walks of life, we agree that the use of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment against prisoners is immoral, unwise, and un-American," the group said in a letter today. "In our effort to secure ourselves, we have resorted to tactics, which do not work, which endanger U.S personnel abroad, which discourage political, military, and intelligence cooperation from our allies, and which ultimately do not enhance our security."

Today marked the beginning of a campaign to garner public support and the support of leaders before taking the statement to the president, the group said.

In a conference call with reporters, retired Gen. Paul J. Kern said the call to ban torture aims to restore the values of the country.

"I could find no evidence that torture produces any answers that are credible and that are useful for the commanders to judge against other materials that they find in their intelligence collection," said Kern, who led an internal investigation of the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison.

Torture contradicts the rights protected by the Geneva Convention that U.S. servicemen and women should have if captured, Kern said.

Today at the White House, Press Secretary Dana Perino said the administration has already passed laws relating to detainee treatment.

"We feel like we have taken steps to address that issue," Perino said. "And I would also point out that we face a very different enemy today than America has ever faced before. We face an enemy that respects no borders, respects no uniforms, and certainly has no regard for civilians, especially innocent women and children and the elderly. So we take his position seriously, but we do think that we have the mechanisms in place to address the issue."

Alberto Mora, the former general counsel for the U.S Navy said torture has not prevented attacks or made the country safer. In fact, the short and long term costs of torture weaken the United States' defenses by hurting alliances needed for the war on terror, he said. Virtually all countries the United States wants to ally with during war consider torture criminal, Mora said.

Rev. John H. Thomas, the general minister and president of the United Church of Christ, said torture cannot be justified on a moral grounds. He said no threat is great enough to justify "our most central values of what it means to be a Christian."

As the father of a son serving in the Army National Guard in Afghanistan, he said he does not want his son to have to make "agonizing moral choices" like torture.

Outside of the group, Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer and foreign policy expert at the Brookings Institution think tank, said torture does not produce quality intelligence.

"We didn't use torture during WWII when we faced an enemy significantly more dangerous than the one we do today," he said. "We didn't use torture during the Cold War when we faced an enemy significantly more dangerous than the one we do today."

When asked what an interrogator should with a person who knows information about an imminent threat, such as a terrorist attack, Riedel said that incident would be extremely rare. The vast majority of cases where a person was subjected to torture did not produce the kind of quality information authorities would need.

However, a torture ban could include a proviso in which the president could authorize additional measures under extraordinary circumstances, he said.

"That standard should be extremely high," Riedel said.

About 200 people have signed the group's statement including former secretaries of state and secretaries of defense. Here are few: George Shultz, Madeleine Albright, Warren Christopher, Harold Brown, William Cohen.

The names of any presidential candidates are not on the list. The group said it cannot legally solicit the support of candidates, but it will welcome their support if they approach the group.

The group has members from both sides of the political spectrum, but public relations for the group is being handled by the liberal-leaning Fenton Communications, which also represents anti-war group MoveOn.org, according to Fenton's Web site.

Comments

I realize the twit Perino has a mission to accomplish on behalf of the Deserter-in-Chief and 5-deferment-Darth but you'd think someone who has never broken a finger nail in combat would know when to shut her pie hole.

"Perino said. "And I would also point out that we face a very different enemy today than America has ever faced before. We face an enemy that respects no borders, respects no uniforms, and certainly has no regard for civilians, especially innocent women and children and the elderly. So we take his position seriously, but we do think that we have the mechanisms in place to address the issue."

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HYPOCRISY -
So why did the U.S. bomb Iraq if we respected civilians, women and children with "Shock and Awe." Iraq was not responsible for 9/11.
There were no WMD's, and Saddam was never a threat to us. And you wonder why this administration is the most hated around the world. Perino will one day go the route of Scott McClellan and do a tell-all, unless of course she actually believes the bunk she is spewing!

Torture is the weapon of choice for EVIL EMPIRES AND RULERS. Have we sunk into that category?

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